“By Air, Land & Sea” theme for Car Classic 09

One of the cars on display at the 2007 Car Classic was this 1954 Alfa Romeo BAT 7 Concept Car from the Blackhawk Collection, Danville, CA. (photo by John Dlugolecki)

Art Center College of Design will host Car Classic ’09, a gathering of the world’s top automotive designers, collectors and enthusiasts. This year’s theme, “By Air, Land and Sea,” celebrates vehicles that push the boundaries of design. The one-day event will take place Sunday, July 19, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the College’s Hillside Campus at 1700 Lida Street in Pasadena, California.

This year, Car Classic will showcase the historic and fruitful relationship between aircraft and watercraft design and the automotive industry. An exhibition will feature more than 100 rare and exotic vehicles, including classic, sports, and custom cars, hot rods, motorcycles, aircraft, watercraft and more.

In keeping with the event’s expanded theme, the keynote address will be delivered by Burt Rutan, the aerospace engineer world-renowned for his designs of the record-breaking aircraft Voyager and SpaceShipOne, winner of the 2004 Ansari X-Prize.

Throughout Car Classic ’09, Art Center’s Hillside campus will be open to the public for tours of design studios and galleries, where guests can view the work of the next generation of artists and designers. Event attendees will have the opportunity to meet leaders in transportation design—many of whom are alumni of Art Center College of Design.

It is estimated that more than half of the world’s automotive designers are Art Center alumni, who currently hold top design positions at the studios of Pininfarina, Ferrari-Maserati, Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Volvo, Nissan, Aston Martin, Hummer, Mazda, Toyota/Lexus and Volkswagen North America, among others.